My aim is to offer insights into some of the more subtle principles underpinning prints. The commentary is based on thirty-eight years of teaching and the prints and other collectables that I am focusing on are those which I have acquired over the years.
In the galleries of prints (accessed by clicking the links immediately below) I am also adding fresh images offered for sale. If you get lost in the maze of links, simply click the "home" button to return to the blog discussions.

Condition: superb,
richly inked and well-printed proof impression (i.e. before lettering with
publication details) in pristine condition with generous margins and signed by
the artist in pencil.

I am selling
this rare, pencil signed engraving in faultless condition after the famous
painting by Velázquez for AU$92 in total (currently US$68.90/EUR61.84/GBP53.034
at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere
in the world.

If you are
interested in purchasing historically significant, and highly influential image,
please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal
invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

This image of the
goddess, Venus, reclining on a bed while gazing at a mirror held by her son,
the Roman god of physical love, Cupid, is one of the most famous paintings in
the National Gallery, London. Beyond its sad plight after being badly damaged
in 1914 by the suffragette, Mary Richardson—fortunately it is now fully
restored—it is for many artists and historians a key milestone in the evolution
of how nudes are portrayed.

Rather than
discuss its historical significance in terms of paintings that may be viewed as
its precedents (e.g. Giorgione’s “Sleeping Venus” [c.1510] and Titian’s “Venus
of Urbino” [1538]) and paintings that it may have inspired (e.g. Manet’s “Olympia”
[1863] and Baudry's “The Wave and the Pearl [1862]), I’ve decided to focus on
the single element that I find the most interesting: Venus’ reflection in the
mirror.

Although the
scientific impossibility of the portrayed reflection has been well documented,
what is seldom discussed is the psychological challenge of wanting to look upon
the goddess’ divine body when she is looking straight at us. For me, this “challenge”
to ignore her reflected gaze so that I may admire her body and the rest of the
image creates a reflexive response. This response may be all about
constrained desire, but, in terms of wanting to look at this image directly and
in its entirety, the reflected gaze of Venus is disconcerting. Of course, the
psychological challenge that I experience to ignore Venus’ direct gaze is a
personal constraint that may not be shared by all viewers. Nevertheless,
without this constraint I imagine that the image may not be so transfixing.